Blades have 'no margin for error' in run-in after Millwall defeat - Wilder
Josh Coburn slammed home the game's only goal midway through the first half to send the Blades spinning to back-to-back Championship defeats.
Last updated 9th Apr 2025
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder conceded there was "no margin for error" in his side's automatic promotion bid after their 1-0 home defeat to play-off chasing Millwall.
Josh Coburn slammed home the game's only goal midway through the first half to send the Blades spinning to back-to-back Sky Bet Championship defeats.
Wilder's side dropped out of the top two, to sit two points behind Leeds and Burnley with five games remaining.
"We have to deal with the negativity because we've brought it on ourselves, I've no problem with that," said Wilder, whose side also lost 1-0 at Oxford on Saturday.
"The narrative will be 'we're out of the race'. I don't think that's the case with five games to go.
"We've got to reset. I've got to pick the right team for Saturday (at Plymouth) because there's no real margin for error now.
"We've not lost three games on the spin all season, we've lost two twice. We've got to adjust that and get back on track, so these last two results don't define our season."
Wilder said his players must deal better with the mounting pressure after Leeds returned to top spot with victory at Middlesbrough and Burnley were held to a goalless draw at Derby.
"It was a difficult night for us, a frustrating night. The longer the game went on, the more we didn't control our emotions well enough.
"The anxiety sort of crept into the players and decisions they've not really made all season started creeping into their game.
"If you go deep into a season like we are doing, we've got to deal with this a lot better.
"It's a new experience for a lot of our players, playing for a big club in this division - it's not League One now, it's big boys' football."
Millwall boss Alex Neil was delighted with his side's display, which lifted them to within three points of sixth-placed Boro, who they play at home on Saturday.
Neil said: "Sheffield United are a really good side and I think everybody will probably expect them to get promoted this season.
"But we've got our own agenda. We came here to win the game. We didn't come here to make up the numbers.
"We want to challenge and hopefully we go into the weekend to challenge, to see if we can beat Middlesbrough and see where that takes us.
"We don't want the season to fizzle out. We want to be fighting for something and that's not easy, there's a lot of good teams in this league."
Neil has won promotion three times via the play-offs with Hamilton, Norwich and Sunderland and added: "If we get in the play-offs, I'd fancy my chances."